Unit 4 - A

Question 1

According to the study cited by Dr DeLeon (Graff & Karsten, 2012) how often do most BCBAs conduct full-scale preference assessments?

a. Less than once a month
b. Every two weeks
c. Weekly
d. Daily

Answer 1

a. Less than once a month

Question 2

Studies cited by Dr. DeLeon indicate that individuals diagnosed with autism tend to display _______ in stimulus preference assessments

a. Less stability in preferences than individuals without an ASD diagnosis
b. Preference for activities over food
c. No preference for food of any kind
d. More stability in preferences than individuals without an ASD diagnosis

Answer 2

d. More stability in preferences than individuals without an ASD diagnosis

Question 3

When comparing food and leisure items, which of the two tend to show greater stability over time?

a. Leisure
b. Neither food nor leisure items are stable
c. Both are equally stable
d. Food

Answer 3

d. Food

Question 4

Research has shown that changes in preferences are most highly correlated with:

a. Poor performance
b. Regression towards the mean
c. Different degrees of validity on MSWO preference assessment
d. Changes in the value of items as reinforcers

Answer 4

d. Changes in the value of items as reinforcers

Question 5

As demonstrated by DeLeon (2001), when several preference assessments are conducted over time, the stimuli most often selected on the X preference assessments tend to be the stimuli which are Y likely to function as reinforcers.

a.
X = Most recent
Y = least

b.
X = Most recent
Y = most

c.
X = Initial
Y = most

d.
X = Indirect
Y = most

Answer 5

b.
X = Most recent
Y = most

Question 6

The term, “effectiveness of a reinforcer” refers, at least in part, to which of the following?

a. The correlation between the presence of a stimulus and the occurrence of a response
b. The utility of a stimulus to evoke behavior in the moment
c. The capacity of a stimulus to support response(s) that just preceded it
d. The level of a stimulus in a preference assessment hierarchy

Answer 6

c. The capacity of a stimulus to support response(s) that just preceded it

Question 7

Results of a study conducted by Hanley, Iwata, Roscoe, Thompson, and Lindberg (2003) demonstrated that the delivery of non-contingent appetitive stimuli (presumed to be reinforcers) during engagement in non-preferred activities resulted in:

a. A shift in response allocation toward the low preference activity
b. A reduction in the effectiveness of the already established reinforcer as a result of being paired with a low preference stimulus
c. An increase in the effectiveness of the already established reinforcer (appetitive) to evoke behavior
d. No change in response allocation to various high and low preference activities across sessions

Answer 7

a. A shift in response allocation toward the low preference activity

Question 8

Which of the following statements are true regarding determinants of stimulus value as related to reinforcement?

a. Items of various quality typically support the same amount of responding
b. Better quality items may function as more potent reinforcers
c. Level of preference is considered as one aspect of magnitude of reinforcement
d. Delays in delivery most often increase the value of reinforcement

Answer 8

b. Better quality items may function as more potent reinforcers

Question 9

The matching law predicts that organisms will distribute behavior among X available alternatives in same proportion that the Y is distributed among those alternatives.

a.
X = Concurrently
Y = Rate of reinforcement

b.
X = Sequentially
Y = Response effort

c.
X = Randomly
Y = Rate of reinforcement

d.
X = Randomly
Y = Reinforcement delay

Answer 9

a.
X = Concurrently
Y = Rate of reinforcement

Question 10

Studies on quality of reinforcement equate “higher quality” with which of the following?

a. More difficult to obtain
b. Greater amount
c. Higher preference
d. More expensive

Answer 10

c. Higher preference

Question 11

Which of the following schedules is often used in research literature to study the relative (increasing) amount of work one is willing to complete to earn various stimuli as reinforcers?

a. Non-contingent reinforcement schedule (NCR)
b. Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)
c. Progressive ratio schedule (PR)
d. Continuous schedule (FR-1)

Answer 11

c. Progressive ratio schedule (PR)

Question 12

Specific motivating operations can have which of the following effects?

X = Evocative

Y = Discriminative

Z = Reinforcer establishing

a. Z only
b. Both X and Z
c. Both X and Y
d. X, Y, and Z

Answer 12

b. Both X and Z

Question 13

Satiation has the following effects: It momentarily ___ the reinforcer effectiveness of a stimulus and ___ the frequency of behavior that produced the stimulus as a consequence

a. Decreases; Increases
b. Decreases; Decreases
c. Increases; Increases
d. Increases; Decreases

Answer 13

b. Decreases; Decreases

Question 14

In a study conducted by Zhou, Iwata, and Shore (2002) the effects of deprivation and satiation were evaluated under more natural arrangements than typical contrived experimental conditions. In this case, they looked at the effectiveness of food as a reinforcer right before or right after lunch. The presence of establishing operations or abolishing operations were presumed, due either to the time before a meal that the food was used (30 minutes before lunch was the deprivation-EO condition), or the time after a meal that the food was used (30 minutes after lunch was the satiation-AO condition). Results suggested that when food is used as a reinforcer under these conditions…

a. Increasing levels of (presumed) satiation always resulted in decreasing rates of responding across all participants
b. (Presumed) deprivation or satiation seemed to affect immediate rates of responding for some, but not all participants
c. Increasing levels of (presumed) deprivation always resulted in increasing rates of responding across all participants
d. Neither (presumed) satiation nor deprivation appeared to have any effect on responding

Answer 14

b. (Presumed) deprivation or satiation seemed to affect immediate rates of responding for some, but not all participants

Question 15

Studies regarding the effect of satiation and deprivation on the ranking of stimuli in preference assessments (e.g., Gottschalk, Libby, and Graff (2000)) suggest that differences in stimulus preference ranking X observed when the levels of food Y were manipulated.

a.
X = were
Y = satiation and deprivation

b.
X = were not
Y = satiation and deprivation

c.
X = were
Y = satiation only

d.
X = were not
Y = satiation only

Answer 15

a.
X = were
Y = satiation and deprivation

Question 16

“Defense of consumption” is greater for X , and is greater when the demand is Y .

a.
X = Necessities
Y = Elastic

b.
X = Luxury items
Y = Inelastic

c.
X = Necessities
Y = Inelastic

d.
X = Luxury items
Y = Elastic

Answer 16

c.
X = Necessities
Y = Inelastic

Question 17

What do behavioral economists call the condition where changes in price (the number of responses required to produce a reinforcer) produce little or no change in consumption of a reinforcer?

a. An elastic work function
b. An inelastic demand function
c. An elastic demand function
d. An inelastic work function

Answer 17

b. An inelastic demand function

Question 18

Allen is obtaining attention on an FR5 schedule for appropriate behavior. When the schedule requirement is increased to an FR7 schedule, Allen stops engaging in appropriate behavior. In behavioral economics, Allen’s sensitivity to the “price” of attention can be described as:

a. Elastic demand
b. Inelastic demand
c. Demand price
d. Work Function

Answer 18

a. Elastic demand

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of an inelastic demand curve? When the price of

a. Shrimp decreases by 30%, consumption increases by 50%
b. An airline ticket is cut by 10%, consumption increases by 20%
c. Water increases by 50%, consumption is not affected
d. Cigarettes increase by 50%, consumption declines by 90%

Answer 19

c. Water increases by 50%, consumption is not affected

Question 20

Cashews (a type of nut) are highly preferred by Lily. Lily is only allowed to earn and consume cashews during experimental sessions. Cashews are not available to Lily at any other time. In behavioral economics this describes a:

a. Open Economy
b. Work Functions
c. Closed Economy
d. Restricted Consumption

Answer 20

c. Closed Economy

Question 21

There is greater defense of consumption (less elasticity of demand) under which type of economy?

a. Open economy
b. Closed economy
c. Token economy
d. Behavioral economy

Answer 21

b. Closed economy

Question 22

Demand is more likely to be elastic when (1) alternative reinforcers are X available, and/or when (2) they Y important functional properties with the current reinforcer in use.

a.
X = concurrently
Y = do not share any

b.
X = concurrently
Y = share

c.
X = not
Y = share

d.
X = not
Y = do not share any

Answer 22

b.
X = concurrently
Y = share

Question 23

According to a stimulus preference assessment, Stimulus A and Stimulus B are equally preferred. Stimulus A is provided non-contingently every day for a month. For the same month, Stimulus B is only provided contingent on completing effortful tasks. Subsequently, another preference assessment is conducted. According to results of past studies, what is likely to result?

a. B will be preferred over A
b. They will both decrease in value
c. They will again be equally preferred
d. A will be preferred over B

Answer 23

a. B will be preferred over A

Question 24

When reinforcers are not consumed following each completion of a scheduled requirement, but are collected and consumed later, this is referred to as:

a. Delayed reinforcement
b. Distributed reinforcement
c. Accumulated reinforcement
d. Mediated reinforcement

Answer 24

c. Accumulated reinforcement

Question 25

Oliver’s teacher gives him a half a biscuit each time he correctly identifies 5 pictures. He eats the piece of biscuit as soon as he earns it. This is an example of:

a. Delayed reinforcement
b. Distributed reinforcement
c. Mediated reinforcement
d. Accumulated reinforcement

Answer 25

b. Distributed reinforcement

Question 26

In the study conducted by DeLeon et al. (in press) on token reinforcers, how did the rates of responding compare between the accumulated reinforcement condition and the distributed reinforcement condition?

a. Indifference
b. Higher rates during distributed reinforcement
c. Equivalent rates during both conditions
d. Higher rates during accumulated reinforcement

Answer 26

d. Higher rates during accumulated reinforcement

Question 27

Which of the following conclusions about accumulated reinforcement is NOT true? Accumulated access, mediated through tokens…

a. Supports faster work
b. Is preferred by learners
c. None; all of these statements are true
d. Supports greater overall quantity of work

Answer 27

c. None; all of these statements are true

Question 28

Which term correctly describes procedures in which a different reinforcer is selected and delivered by the therapist each time a schedule requirement is met?

a. Daily brief preference assessment
b. Teacher-selected choice
c. Within-session choice
d. Stimulus variation

Answer 28

d. Stimulus variation

Question 29

Asking the learner which reinforcer they would like to earn during the following instructional period describes:

a. Post-session choice
b. Pre-session selection
c. Within-session choice
d. Reinforcer assessment

Answer 29

b. Pre-session selection

Question 30

When a learner selects a reinforcer from a small array each time the schedule requirement is met this describes:

a. Pre- session selection
b. Paired choice preference assessment
c. Within-session choice
d. A single operant reinforcer assessment

Answer 30

c. Within-session choice

Question 31

Which statement is TRUE concerning yoking procedures in studies on choice?

a. Yoking perfectly isolates the effects of choice across sessions and conditions
b. Yoking controls for any and all long term fluctuations in preference
c. Yoking is not perfect, since preferences can change over brief periods of time (e.g., between sessions
d. Yoking ensures that choice preferences remain unchanged across consecutive conditions

Answer 31

c. Yoking is not perfect, since preferences can change over brief periods of time (e.g., between sessions

Question 32

What is a potential reason why “reinforcement” may not “work”?

a. The reinforcers are not strong enough to adequately evoke behavior
b. The person who is being studied has no reinforcers, per se.
c. There is some kind of mismatch between the target response and the programmed consequence, which thus fails to function as a reinforcer
d. The stimuli used had not been paired with money or food, so were never conditioned properly

Answer 32

c. There is some kind of mismatch between the target response and the programmed consequence, which thus fails to function as a reinforcer

Question 33

All of the following are considered to be procedural mismatches between a target response and its consequence (outcome), and thus may prevent that consequential stimulus from functioning as a reinforcer, EXCEPT:

a. The response-reinforcer contingency was arranged, but was contacted too frequently
b. The stimulus used no longer functions as a reinforcer under these conditions, due to long term changes in the preferences of the individual
c. The identified reinforcing stimulus followed the wrong response
d. A response-reinforcer contingency was arranged, but never contacted due to the requisite performance being too difficult

Answer 33

a. The response-reinforcer contingency was arranged, but was contacted too frequently

Question 34

Programmed delivery of “reinforcement” can result in a decrease in responding when a contingency is arranged where:

a. The participant prefers a task more than the stimulus identified by assessment as highly preferred
b. Presenting a stimulus contingent on behavior results only in the maintenance of that behavior
c. A response-reinforcer contingency is arranged and carried out consistently
d. An SdP abates a particular (and different) response in its presence

Answer 34

a. The participant prefers a task more than the stimulus identified by assessment as highly preferred